Morocco appoints its first woman prime minister

King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Zahra Mansouri as Morocco's first woman prime minister on Tuesday, 29 September 2026. Her party, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), came first in the 23 September election.

"For the first time in our country's history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government," she said, calling it a source of pride "for all Moroccan women," according to Al Jazeera.

Who she is

• Born in Marrakech in 1976, she is a lawyer who studied at the University of Montpellier in France.
• In 2009 she became the first woman to be mayor of Marrakech, and she served in parliament.
• She was housing and urban planning minister in the outgoing government.
• She joined PAM when it was founded in 2008 and became one of its top leaders in 2024.

She is the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world, after Tunisia's Najla Bouden.

What comes next

Under Morocco's 2011 constitution, the king must appoint the prime minister from the party that wins the most seats. PAM won 97 of 395 seats, far short of the 198 needed for a majority, so Mansouri must now build a coalition and present her cabinet to the king. The Islamist PJD has said it will stay in opposition.

Her government will oversee billions in spending ahead of the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco co-hosts, while facing pressure over prices, wages and jobs.